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Listen to thisA Guide to Promoting Resilience in Children
by Edith Grotberg. Den Haag: Bernard van Leer Foundation
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Traditionally, mental health professionals have focused on the negative consequences of high-risk environments for children's development. Edith Grotberg has been influential in shifting this focus to the study of factors that contribute to resilience rather than vulnerability. Among other findings, her research revealed that fewer than 50 percent of adults demonstrate behaviour that promotes resilience in their children. Her volume is a product of concerns raised by this finding and an effort to draw attention to the practices that promote such resilience. The style is accessible, facilitating the dissemination of the book's key ideas to lay communities and NGOs. Grotberg's strategy is to reduce the risks to the psychological well-being of children in difficult circumstances through teaching resilience-promoting behaviour to care-givers. The approach assumes that the child's environment is compromised and unlikely to change significantly. What is required under such conditions is a psychological tool-kit for the enhancement of the coping capacities of the child and the care-giver. In many ways the book succeeds in providing such a resource. It begins by identifying sources of resilience upon which children can draw. These include their own character and resilience-promoting actions that they can undertake. Grotberg's resilience-promotion strategy focuses on making the child conscious of these sources of strength by suggesting that he/she thinks about what I have as supports in my personal environment; what I am, or positive qualities of my self; and what I can do to promote my own psychological wellbeing (p. 11). For example, when in difficult circumstances the child can be assisted to remember that “I have people around me I trust no matter what"; that “I am a person people can like and love"; and that “I can find someone to help me when I need it" (p. 11).
The book considers children below the age of 12, dividing them into three developmental periods: birth- 3 years; 4-7 years; and 8-11 years. Grotberg draws on Erik Erikson's developmental model of psycho-social development to highlight the psychological features of each period. She then provides examples of stage-appropriate child and care-giver resilience-promoting behaviour. The approach is useful as it demonstrates how it is necessary to apply the principles of resilience building (I have, I am, and I can) in developmentally appropriate ways.
Problems
What problems do I have with this otherwise useful initiative? First,
Grotberg states at the beginning of the book that “The Guide is not
intended to be used as a manual ... “ (p. 9). Despite this disclaimer,
it reads as a set of fairly strong directives. For example, when
discussing the 8-11 year-old group, Grotberg states: “When they promote
resilience.., parents and care-givers express love verbally and
physically in age-appropriate ways" (p. 39). And further, when
discussing a scenario in which a boy breaks rules, she writes: “You will
promote resilience if you talk to him ... ask why he broke the rules ...
make clear that his behaviour is not acceptable... (p. 41). Regardless
of her disclaimer, this is the language of manuals and it is probable
that those who read the book for assistance will treat it as such. This
need not be a serious problem, but it does have one or two potential
drawbacks, particularly when applied in cultural contexts where
Grotberg's resilience-promoting strategies might seem inappropriate.
This leads to my second criticism. The book suggests that the principles of resilience promotion can (and should) be universally applicable. However, Grotberg's examples of specific resilience-building exchanges between adults and children seem embedded within Western cultural discourses of such engagements. While Grotberg states at the outset that her approach should be adapted to local circumstances, she does not demonstrate how this could be achieved. A few examples which examine 'appropriate' resilience-building responses against the backdrop of a set of differing cultural and economic circumstances would have been useful. As it stands many of the examples in the book are trite – almost too easy. I could imagine an NGO staffperson or parent, faced with the struggles of everyday life, saying: “That suggestion is all very well, but seems very difficult for me to implement in my circumstances." The volume, as sensitive as it is, needed to make more clear that it respects the real difficulties that people (usually women) face when trying to implement initiatives of this sort.
Still, I would recommend this book as a most useful resource. However, I would also heed the author's own advice: think thoroughly about the modifications required for your particular cultural setting.
